word{ful} wednesday: a long weekend

Our friends Alan and Liza came up for a long weekend, prior to Alan’s big presentation to executives in Connecticut on Monday. We had a great visit! My experience with them cemented a theory that’s been bubbling in my mind: we define a sense of self through the people closest to us, possibly because our companions mirror back to us the best parts of our personalities. Thus, when we are away from loved ones for prolonged periods, we begin to lose our grip on who we really are.

I’ll never forget hearing what my great-grandfather described as the most difficult part of living nearly a century: losing his loved ones. I thought grief would be his reason for the difficulty, but it wasn’t the kind of grief I was expecting. Rather than focusing on the sadness of losing them, he highlighted the loss of his own sense of self

Phew! Pardon me for veering off course with that unexpectedly morose tangent. I mentioned it to pinpoint the reason I feel so refreshed after being with old friends. Having a weekend full of remembered stories and belly laughs is like one long continuous hug that never ends. It’s fabulous. Our visit was doubly great because it was the first time our children played with each other. It is fun to compare their personalities and see which parts of them are like us and like each other.

Even better than all this pontificating are the photos I have from the event. Enjoy!